Shi Davidi of Sportsnet reports that Blue Jays left-hander Ricky Romero underwent arthroscopic elbow surgery and “received platelet-rich plasma injections in both knees to enhance recovery from quad tendinitis,” which perhaps helps explain at least some of his disastrous season.

Romero was an All-Star last season and got off to a decent start this year, but then completely fell apart by going 1-13 with a 7.35 ERA in his final 17 outings.

According to Davidi the elbow surgery was merely a “cleanup” procedure with a six-week recovery timetable, leaving Romero plenty of time to get ready for spring training. He has three years and $23 million remaining on a contract signed in August of 2010.

I’m quite surprised to read this, considering the repeated denials all season long that there was anything remotely wrong with Romero’s health that might have contributed to his atrocious performance all season. I’ll wait to hear some further details about this whole thing, but it appears to be yet another bad-taste-in-mouth story that has defined the Blue Jays 2012 season.